The Survival of a Weekly Newspaper Editor

I recently asked David Abbott of the Sonoma West Times and News weekly newspaper to be June's Guest Blogger. He agreed to write about what life was like for him as the editor of a popular weekly community newspaper (circulation approx. 3800). He gave the assignment some thought, rolled up his sleeves and got busy writing. I'm amazed and impressed that he was able to squeeze this into his schedule. But then, that's what community newspaper editors do; they pack as much as they can into the little time they have to produce good copy.
Here's what David cranked out (on time, by the way, with perfect word count in order) to meet my deadline:

In the wake of the economic disaster of the 21st century, the life of a weekly news editor has become extraordinarily busy.
Prior to becoming a journalist and then an editor of a weekly newspaper with a circulation of approximately 8,000, I spent the earlier part of my life performing various types of industrial work interspersed with long bicycle trips. The last job I had before returning to college at the age of 40 was as the manager of a failing bicycle shop in Sebastopol , CA .
That’s when I returned to school to learn how to write so that I could record my bicycle adventures. Little did I know when I began that I would develop a passion for journalism. After three years as a staff member/editor of state university newspaper, I was hired by a small weekly as a part-time staff writer. As the economy worsened, staffing cuts left more work for the remaining writers, and I, still a college student, survived in large part because the publisher was tired of wearing three hats, as editor, publisher and staff writer.
Nine months after I graduated from college I was promoted to editor of the paper. By that time, we were down to a green editor, one full-time writer, one part-time, and a few former writers who shared in our fairly limited freelance budget.
The role of an editor in the current climate/market is one of a multi-tasking writer/public relations flak/layout-desktop-publishing professional/time manager.
Thanks to the wonders of the computer age, with my laptop and an internet connection I can work any time day or night, independent of an office and desktop publishing has effectively reduced a position adding to the workload of the editor. Although I share layout duties with one member of our production department, I am still responsible for assembling content for 10-12 pages per week.
It can be exhausting, thankless work, but what we do serves a vital service to our communities, and in these times of shrinking news rooms what we do becomes even more important. The local daily can send reporters out from a central office in another city, but our reporters — and me as editor — go to the board meetings and business openings to learn about and record what’s happening beyond the spot coverage daily newspapers have the resources for these days.
We represent the eyes and ears of the community, and provide a venue for the official public record for legal proceedings and other necessary businesses and community announcements.
But another service we provide is that of the recorders of history in the vernacular of our times. Our tiny office houses more than 100 years of local history in the form of dusty, yellowed newsprint, written by individuals who may not have been perfect but were willing to put their names to what was their interpretation of the world in which they lived.
It is a world that is constantly changing, as we are all well aware. The work is getting tougher for “the survivors,” but the role of the weekly is more important than ever as a means of filling in the gaps of coverage by dailies that are being forced to cut back on resources and limit their coverage.